The
Chinese government is spending heavily to increase its military might
and is increasing spending on research into new weapon systems. China
insists that it is no threat to other countries, but much of the
world looks warily at the communist country and its growing
power.

China's defense minister Liang Guanglie says that
the country
wants to modernize its military without foreign aid. Liang said,
"In the coming five years, our military will push forward
preparations for military conflict in every strategic
direction."

Liang continues to say that China would
advance its capability to fight and win future high-tech wars while
boosting its conventional military arsenal. China is working on
weapons that trouble some military analysts and military personnel in
the U.S. with new weapons systems like the DF-21 missile which
can destroy
a U.S. supercarrier with a single hit.

Liang said,
"We will stand on our own feet to solve the problem and develop
our equipment. The modernization of the Chinese military cannot
depend on others, and cannot be bought."

According to
Liang, China is building up its navy, air force, and strategic
missile forces. China is thought to be launching a new aircraft
carrier as much as a year before analysts expected and the Chinese
Air Force has a new stealth jet that has been seen recently in spy
shots. The Chinese stealth aircraft is called
the J-20 and is thought to be aimed at the U.S. F-22 Raptor.
Some reports have claimed that the J-20 is larger than the Raptor
with more weapons and fuel capacity making some think that the
aircraft may not be as fast or agile as the Raptor in a
fight.

Defense
News reports
that U.S. Defense Secretary Ronald Gates will head to Beijing soon
for talks with Chinese officials. The visit will undoubtedly be in
part to talk about the fact that China is allied with North Korea.
North Korea recently shelled a small South Korean island killing four
people, including two civilians.

"We are going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet. A lot of these people don't have Ph.Ds, and they don't have a degree in computer science." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis